


Seeing Life In Different Colours

by Who_the_hell_is_Tre_Cool



Series: Unpredictable [Wolfpack AU] [2]
Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band), Waterparks (Band)
Genre: Abuse, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Angst with a Happy Ending, Child Abuse, Discussions of death, M/M, Pack Dynamics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2020-07-06
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:28:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25116163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Who_the_hell_is_Tre_Cool/pseuds/Who_the_hell_is_Tre_Cool
Summary: ' Moments like this, Ashton could almost forget everything. He liked to imagine that somewhere, in a different universe, he and Awsten were proper boyfriends. In high school together, maybe. Doing stupid shit and sneaking out to parties.“I’ve been thinking about running away,” Ashton admitted quietly, barely a whisper.Awsten still managed to hear. Good. Ashton didn’t think he’d be able to say it again.“Yeah? Where are you gonna go?” '
Relationships: Ashton Irwin/Awsten Knight
Series: Unpredictable [Wolfpack AU] [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1818904
Comments: 8
Kudos: 19





	Seeing Life In Different Colours

**Author's Note:**

> This is actually a prequel and companion to We'll Stumble Through It All, so if you haven't read that please do it's the first one in the series.
> 
> This one's kinda dark, but it explores Ashton's life before he got to the Hood pack.

“Ashton, come on,” Came a gruff voice, startling Ashton awake from where he’d been dosing at his desk, trying to do his homework. “Dress smartly, we have a meeting to get to. And hurry up.”

“Yes sir,” He mumbled, watching as his dad left the room, the door falling shut with a slam. He took a minute to collect himself, shuffling his papers inside his text book for safe keeping. He was torn between not wanting to get in trouble for being late and not wanting to hurry. After a little while, he got dressed, stopping to look in the mirror to make sure all his bruises were hidden.

The meeting between all the local packs was a monthly occurrence, one which Ashton was forced to attend, since he was the next in line to be Alpha. Although, if that sort of thing wasn’t passed down through family lines, he knew his father would pick someone else.

Ashton knew he wasn’t the best candidate for Alpha- he was taller than most of his peers, but not overwhelmingly so. He was too kind, his father said, would rather sacrifice the whole territory than injure even one member of the pack. Ashton didn’t see this as a bad trait, but his dad clearly thought so. His wolf was small and lean, good for running fast but terrible at fighting, no matter how many times he had to fight another member of the pack. A strength exercise, just some friendly sparring, his dad had said. The twisted scars on his shoulder and painful bruises all over his body said otherwise, but he wasn’t going to argue.

When he emerged from his room, his dad was waiting in the entrance hall. He shot a slightly disappointed look at the clock, but said nothing, which Ashton counted as a win.

The meetings were held at the house belonging to the Madden pack, as they were the biggest pack in the area and owned the most territory. Ashton’s dad wasn’t too happy about this, always complained, but he held a grudging respect for the Maddens, purely because they were men his own age and that was the sort of people he respected.

When they arrived, the door was opened by Awsten, one of the newer additions to the Madden pack. He was only a few years older than Ashton, and seemed to have a constant mischievous glint in his eyes. Ashton’s dad didn’t like him talking to members of the other packs, but sometimes when the Alpha’s were discussing private things, he and Awsten would steal away. It was fun just existing around other people his age, with Awsten and Jawn and Otto and Geoff and a few others.

After a small amount of greetings and mingling, most of which Ashton spent in silence besides a quiet ‘hello’, all the Alphas and their seconds were seated around the meeting table.

As always, the Alphas started the meeting with talk of important things that had happened in the past month, and Ashton used the time to look around.

At the head of the table sat Benji and Joel, the co-alpha’s of the Madden pack. Though having two Alphas’ was rare, it wasn’t unheard of, and the pair seemed to make it work.

Next to Ashton sat Alpha Joy, of the Hood pack. Her daughter Mali, who was about Awsten’s age, sat beside her. Ashton’s dad didn’t agree with the Hood pack, as they almost always had a female Alpha. Ashton thought Mali was scary intimidating and would make an amazing leader.

Opposite Ashton sat Rian and Zack, of the Dawson pack. He knew their pack well, as his dad despised them. They only had four members, Rian, Zack, Alex, and Jack, a group of friends in their early 20’s who had all been bitten or had abandoned previous packs. Ashton’s dad already hated bitten wolves, said they were weaker, but abandoning a pack was, in his view, the worst crime someone could commit.

Ashton didn’t really see the problem, but he never said anything. If he were older, he might have said ‘fuck it’ and asked to join the Dawson pack. If he did join them, his dad would throw a fit and probably hunt him down just to personally murder him. But if they refused he’d have nowhere else to go, and would probably get killed by hunters within a week. So he said nothing and kept his head down.

Like clockwork, an hour passed and everyone except the Alphas was kicked out. Awsten was waiting just outside the door, and grabbed Ashton’s hand as soon as soon as he was out of sight of the door, dragging him upstairs to the room he shared with Jawn.

Jawn was sprawled across his bed when they entered, but picked up his laptop and left with a smile. Ashton reminded himself to thank him later, but he knew he probably wouldn’t get the chance to. Awsten laid down on his bed, tugging Ashton down beside him and wrapping him up in a tight hug. Ashton gasped involuntarily in pain, and Awsten pulled away looking worried.

“You feel... fragile,” Awsten said softly, lips brushing Ashton’s forehead, “Is he stopping you from eating again?”

Ashton shrugged, curling into Awsten’s hold, “It’s not that bad, promise. I have food in my room.”

“That’s not the point. He still shouldn’t do that.”

Ashton sighed softly, “I know. I’m glad I have you to tell me how fucked up everything is once a month. It’s easy to get used to it and forget it’s not normal.”

“Always happy to help babe,” Awsten grinned, cupping Ashton’s cheeks to pull him into a soft kiss.

Moments like this, Ashton could almost forget everything. He liked to imagine that somewhere, in a different universe, he and Awsten were proper boyfriends. In high school together, maybe. Doing stupid shit and sneaking out to parties.

“I’ve been thinking about running away,” Ashton admitted quietly, barely a whisper.

Awsten still managed to hear. Good. Ashton didn’t think he’d be able to say it again.

“Yeah? Where are you gonna go?”

“I don’t care at this point,” His voice sounded hopeless, even in his own ears, “I think I’d rather be rogue and get taken out by hunters than stay with the pack any longer.”

“You don’t mean that...”

Ashton looked up at him, and Awsten’s face fell. “I do mean it. There’s no difference. I leave I’ll get killed. I stay I’ll get killed. And I’d rather die free than in the dingy fucking basement,” His voice became frantic, “If he locks me in there one more time I’m going to die. I can’t- I can’t do it again. I can’t-”

Awsten cut him off, hugging him close, “Don’t talk like that- You’ll be okay. We can- We’ll find away to get you out. I’ll speak to Benji-”

“No!” Ashton cried out, startling himself. “I- Sorry- I-”

“It’s okay,” Awsten shushed him gently, “We’ll work things out.”

Ashton signed, “I should probably get back to the meeting room.”

“Alright,” Awsten kissed him, tender and full of love, and it felt like a promise. “But no giving up.”

###

A few days before the full moon, Ashton’s dad pushed him down the stairs into the basement and told him to shift. He landed at the bottom of the stairs and tried not to cry out in pain, his ankle twisted underneath him when he landed. Ashton hated shifting, but was forced to by the moon (and his dad). If he didn’t have to, he’d probably avoid doing it at all.

It was painful, excruciatingly so, and took a lot longer than most wolves. He also hated being shifted, as it left his brain fuzzy, making him act half on instinct. This instinct was what his father wanted to control. He let the other members of the pack come down and aggravate him, mocking him as humans or transforming to physically attack him.

It was routine at this point, but it didn’t make it hurt any less.

On the third day, Ashton was woken up by the basement door slamming open. His dad came down the stairs, nudging him over with his foot.

“Still can’t control yourself,” He scoffed, “How can you possibly expect to be Alpha when you can’t even fend off your own pack. It’s not difficult.”

Ashton was saved from further scrutiny by the doorbell ringing upstairs. His dad huffed, but turned around. “Don’t move, I’ll be back.”

And then Ashton was alone in the dark again, shivering on the cold floor and barely able to feel his body through the pain.

He heard muffled voices from upstairs, his father’s tone ringing disbelief and poorly concealed annoyance. The other voices were familiar, but his hazy mind couldn’t decipher them.

Soon, the voices faded, and Ashton prepared to settle into the silence. Instead, he heard a faint crunch from the entrance hatch that lead straight outside. There were a few minutes of hushed whispering before the hatch opened, and someone dropped through.

The person walked over slowly and crouch in front of him, holding out a hand. The scent was familiar and comforting, and Ashton made himself lift his head.

Awsten was in front of him, and the sight made him let out a whine.

“I know, I know,” Awsten murmured, petting the top of Ashton’s head, “I’m so fucking sorry it took this long. But we’re here to get you out.”

Shakily, Ashton got to his feet, yelping when he accidentally put weight on his back leg. Quickly, he was hauled into Awsten’s arms and carried to the hatch. There, Awsten lifted him up, and someone else held him while Awsten climbed out.

After three days in the dark, the light was blinding, but once he could see he realised the other person was Jawn.

Awsten and Jawn quickly carried him away from the house, into the woods that covered the back end of his father’s territory and crossed the border into the Hood territory. Jawn set him carefully on the floor and Awsten knelt down in front of him.

“We spoke to Mali, she’s the Alpha now. Benji and Joel don’t know anything. She said you’re always welcome in her pack, okay?”

Ashton nodded his head as best he could, and Awsten sniffled, voice coming out shaky when he continued, “There’s nothing we can really do about your dad. There’s no laws. But as long as you’re away from him, then that’s the best we can do. You won’t be able to come to meetings, he’d probably throw a fit, so I don’t know when we’ll see each other again, but I love you. I hope you make it to Mali’s.”

With that, Awsten pressed a kiss to his forehead before standing up. Jawn shot Ashton a reassuring smile, and then the pair left.

Ashton made his way through the woods, his injured leg hindering him greatly. Eventually he was startled by the sound of two people crashing through the bushes.

He turned, facing the two boys, and shrunk away little. In front of him, the dark haired boy stopped the other and motioned to Ashton, the pair of them sitting down. The boy looked familiar, dark hair and brown eyes and a round face. He hoped this was Mali’s brother and he’d made it to their territory.

“Can you change back?” The dark haired boy asked, tone soft. The other boy held out his hoodie as an offering, and if Ashton had been human he would have cried at the kind gesture.

“We won’t hurt you,” He added, as Ashton slowly approached, “We wanna help.”

Carefully, ever so carefully, Ashton took the offered hoodie, before retreating a small distance to transform.

The shift hurt, more so than usual due to the added injuries, and the knowledge that people were watching him made his stomach twist. When he was human again, he clutched the hoodie around himself, shivering a little, and listened as the boy explained who they were.

###

It was three am and Ashton had been with the Hood pack for week when Mali approached him.

He hadn’t been sleeping well, adrenaline and nightmares combining into a sleepless cocktail, and he had explored most of the house by now, slow, silent adventures while his ankle healed.

During his exploration, he had found a library room, not overwhelmingly huge. The chairs were comfortable and the books weren’t so old he was scared to touch them.

He was curled up in one of the chairs, flicking through a copy of Dracula, when the door opened, light spilling into the room. He looked up and saw Mali, in pyjamas and a dressing gown, holding two steaming mugs.

She came over, setting the mugs on the side table before sitting down on the chair next to his.

“I made hot chocolate, I hope you like it,” She said, smiling.

Ashton hesitated, “I- thanks? I’m sorry for wandering around at night-”

“It’s cool, it’s fine,” she reassured him, “You didn’t wake anyone up. Besides, you can’t do much with your ankle so it’s not like you can’t catch up on sleep during the day.”

He smiled a little, and she grinned. They drank their hot chocolate in silence, although it didn’t feel charged or awkward. It was comfortable, relaxing.

“I want you to know,” Mali put her mug down, “That you are a part of this pack. You are family now. What your dad did to you was disgusting, and I’d kill him if I could. But I’ll settle for making sure he never lays his hands on you again.”

Ashton chewed his lip, “Thank you. I- You’ve done so much for me, all of you have, I feel like thank you isn’t enough.”

“You don’t have to thank me at all.”

Ashton shrugged a little, unsure what to do with himself.

“Could you, maybe, not tell Calum and Michael. Like, about my dad and stuff. Any of it. They don’t know who I am and I don’t think I want them to...”

Mali frowned, “Of course, I won’t tell them anything you don’t want me to. But y’know, they won’t care either way. They won’t treat you any different.”

“Yeah, I know. I just want something to be on my terms, I guess. I wanna decide who gets to know what.”

She nodded, “Yeah of course. You have control over things here, don’t worry. I’m sure Calum’s already said that the Alpha thing is just a formal title, it doesn’t really me anything within our pack.”

“Yeah, he mentioned.”

“Ashton,” She said, and her tone made him look up, meeting her eyes, “You’re safe here. I promise.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, lemme know if you enjoyed it!
> 
> Come yell at me on tumblr @mastasof-ravenkroft


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